Depth Amongst The Shallows
by Meme-Ann
Summary: There's finally some depth in the shallows of Eden Hall, coming in the form of lower class student Meredith Rice. When she falls for Riley's kid brother all hell breaks lose and if Fulton can't stop her, it may lead to suicide.
1. 1

*~ I DON'T OWN THE DUCKS, DISNEY DOESN'T EVEN KNOW I GOT THEM SO SHHH. MEREDITH AND JARED ARE MINE THOUGH~*  
  
  
~* This chapters short because I'm not sure if I should continue with this story. What do you think? If I should I need your help, I need a duck to befriend Meredith, maybe even to fall for her. So um suggestions please.  
  
Meredith Rice stood in front of her bathroom mirror and sighed at her reflection. The girl glaring back her had shoulder length mousy brown hair with an untamable puff and her eyes were the color of mud. She was medium height, medium weight, her nose was pudgier then she wanted it to be and her ears stuck out slightly. It wasn't enough to make her unattractive, she was far from ugly she was simply plain. Average in every meaning of the word.  
  
"Meredith are you almost ready, I'm leaving in two minutes." Her older brother Jared had been banging on the door for over twenty minutes while she prepped for her first day of school and came out looking exactly the way she did when she went in.  
  
"I'm ready." She sighed again picking up her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder  
  
"You're going dressed like that?" Jared gazed at his sister's appearance with a critical eye  
  
"Yeah." Merry looked down at her tight fitting and somewhat fade blue jeans and tee-shirt with royal blue and white horizontal stripes  
  
"Listen sis, I know some girls from Eden Hall and they don't dress like that."  
  
"Let's put it this way Jared, I could use my pay check to buy new clothes, look good and go to public school, or I could use it to pay tuition, get a good education at Eden Hall and dress like I always have." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently "Are you driving me to school or would you like me to walk?"  
  
"Let's go." He picked his keys up off the table and shoved his sister out the door  
  
"How do you know Eden Hall girls?" Meredith asked as Jared's Honda traveled down the streets of Stillwater.  
  
"I work at the mall Meredith it's pretty hard not to notice 'em with their Gucci purses and Donna Karan dresses. I'm surprised you haven't met any of them at the diner."  
  
"Mickey's isn't exactly the hang out for high society."  
  
"Doesn't Casey's son go to Eden Hall?" Her brother clicked on his blinker and eased closer to the school  
  
"Charlie? Yeah he does. He's like captain of the hockey team or something; I doubt I'll even see him. I won't fit in with that crowd."  
  
"I'm sure you'll make some friends. Want me to pick you up at the end of the day?"  
  
"I've got to work, I'll just take the bus to the diner and call you from there." Meredith took a breath and forced herself out into the wonderful world of Prep School.  
  
Meredith had received her schedule in the mail over the summer, the same as all the other students had and was relieved to see she was in every B level sophomore curse she'd asked for. Nothing to challenging, nothing she was destine to ace with flying colors, just regular classes and quite possibly the most irregular school in the state.  
  
She was seated in the fifth row from the back of the auditorium vaguely listening to the droning of dean Buckley. He praised the varsity hockey team and a pretty girl with long blonde hair behind her whispered to a tall kid a cowboy hat  
  
"What about us?"  
  
Meredith recognized the two students as Julie Gaffney and Dwayne Robertson, members of the JV team. They'd been all over the sports section the year before and Meredith read every article. She wasn't really into sports, but she knew she'd be going to Eden Hall the following year so she made sure she got every bit of gossip and news she could. It's always better to go into things well informed, at least that's what her father used to say before he ran off with his secretary.  
  
It was already sixth period before she had a class with Charlie. She was almost happy to see his face after all the dirty looks she'd been receiving all day from various people, students and staff. But she wasn't really insulted when the Captain Duck walked right past her and lowered himself into a seat as if he hadn't even seen her. Maybe he hadn't, she wasn't really striking and most men did just gloss over her.  
  
After almost half of their Geology and Soils class a note folded in the shape of a paper football smacked her in the side of the face and hit the desk. She heard the stifled giggles coming from the snobby girls and snooty guys that were sitting in the surrounding desks and she frowned as she opened it.  
  
"Hey Meredith, welcome to hell. - Charlie"  
  
That hadn't been the kind hello she'd been hoping for but it was better then nothing. She had to agree with him though, that school was hell. She came to that conclusion when the boy behind her pulled her hair and called her white trash as the class cleared the room for the end of the day. To think she thought the aristocrats of the academy would be more mature. She was almost positive as she settled into her seat on the bus that it would've been better to buy new clothes and go to a public high school. 


	2. 2

Meredith with held her tear the entire bus ride, she had always been the type to hold in here feelings and trued to show as little emotion as possible. Emotions make people notice you, Meredith liked blending in with the background, though it seemed that at a high glamour school such as Eden Hall Academy a frumpy waitress like her wasn't going to be undetected. She pulled the door to Mickey's open with tense arms, her nose automatically being attacked by the smell of the deep fryer.  
  
"Hey Meredith, how was school?" Casey chirped from behind the counter where she was busily making coffee  
  
"It was alright. I better go put on my uniform." The girl slipped into the ladies' room and pulled her work clothes from her backpack. She dressed as quickly as human could and went back out into the diner. Casey was already gone and there restaurant was empty so she pulled out her order pad and pen and started doodling on it.  
  
"Hi Meredith, uh sorry about hitting you with that note in class today." She lifted her head to see Charlie standing in front of her with his hands in his pockets and without the slightest hint of sincerity in his voice.  
  
"That's fine Charlie." She forced a smile at him, knowing from his demeanor he wasn't remorseful. Not that he meant to hit her in the face, only that he found it slightly funny that he had. "Can I get you anything?"  
  
"Nah, I'm meeting somebody here in a few minutes, so I'm just gonna go sit in one of the booths and chill. Oh and by the way dean Buckley only has one horn you might wanna add the other one." He referred to the doodle Meredith had been working on when he came in, as he walked away.  
  
She looked down at her sketch and scribbled on another horn on the dean's head. The picture was one of the school engulfed in flames with the words Eden Hell written above it. The dean was dressed like Satan and you could see the faces of various students in the windows of the building. It wasn't the worlds best quality drawing but everyone had to have something they're good at, Meredith could drawn, not great, not even good, just better then most.  
  
"Hey, I forgot something at my house, when my friend gets here can you tell him I ran to the house to get it and I'll be right back?" Charlie's voice shattered her concentration yet again.  
  
When Meredith nodded in response Charlie took off.  
  
No more then ten minutes later the diner door was opened and a tall boy with long dark hair walked in. He was wearing Army fatigues and a bandana, Meredith recognized him instantly. The boy settled himself onto a stool at the counter and gave her a studying look. She tore her drawing off the top oh her order pad and stuffed it in her pocket as she walked over to him with a bland expression on her face.  
  
"Charlie had to go get something at home, can I get you something to while you wait?"  
  
The boy studied her face even closer then, trying to see if it registered familiar  
"How did you know I'm looking for Conway?"  
"Because you're Fulton Reed and Ducks fly together." She explained "So do you want something?"  
  
"Yeah, can I get a cheese burger and a coke?"  
  
"Yeah, pickles?"  
  
"Please."  
  
Moments later Charlie came back with his elbow pads in hand and dropped himself on the stool next to Fulton   
"So you ready to go?"  
  
"I ordered a cheese burger while you were gone, it hasn't come yet." The Bash Brother answered drumming his fingers impatiently on the counter  
  
"I got it covered. Hey Rice put Fulton's burger on my mother's tab, we're outa here."  
  
"Sure Charlie." The girl shooed him with her hand without turning around to her them. Charlie Conway seemed to be one of the worlds biggest jerks to her and if Fulton hung out with him then he couldn't be much better in her mind.  
  
The two male Ducks began on their way to the basketball court at a local elementary school to join the rest of the team in a pick up game and were nearly there before either of them said a word.  
  
"Hey Charlie do you know that dark haired waitress?"  
  
The captain cocked his head to look at his burly companion  
"Meredith?" Charlie raised his brows  
  
"I dunno, the dark haired one with the monotone voice."  
  
"Yeah Meredith, she started there over the summer vacation. Doesn't have much of a personality. Why?"  
  
"Nothing really, she just seemed sorta… whatever." He wanted to say she seemed lonely and depressed, like she had a wall up but he was Fulton Reed a Bash Brother all brawn no brain, he wasn't suppose to notice things like that.  
  
"Yeah okay."  
  
The next day at school Meredith stood in the middle of the lunch room with her tray in fully loaded and in hand. The day prior she managed to avoid the cafeteria by using her lunch time to take a tour of the campus but that day she was hungry and was determined to eat. The only problem was finding a place to sit. Every table was occupied by people of certain cliques. There was the cheerleaders at one closest to those of the varsity athletes (one for each sport), JV had their own section, the activist another, the newspaper staff and AV club ate together as did the chorus and drama club and the student government and peer leaders. There were so many groups to belong to and she wasn't a member of any, nor did she even dream of tying to fit in with them.  
  
Fulton strained his neck a bit searching for a sign of Meredith, he had made a decision when he got home the night before to help her feel like a part of the school. Sort of be the unofficial Mighty Duck welcome wagon. When he spotted her however she was on her way out the side door of the dining hall with her food.  
  
"I got something to do guys, I'll see yas later." He pushed away from the table and followed Meredith out. He found her sitting on the lawn between the caf and the library peeling an orange and shivering in the bitter chill of a Minnesota fall.  
" A little cold?"  
  
She looked up from her orange with a small scowl  
"No." she lied not showing weakness  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Are you always so easy to talk to?"  
  
"No sometimes I'm difficult."  
  
"Yeah right." Fulton settled down on the ground beside her and she rolled her eyes at him  
  
"Shouldn't you be eating with the hockey team?"  
  
"You're such a merry person you know that? No I decided that coming out here in the minus five hundred degree weather was a better idea. You looked like you needed company."  
  
"Well it was nice of you, sweet gesture really, but I'm fine. There's no use in you risking frost bite out her for me."  
  
"I'm stayin anyway. So where ya from?"  
  
"Stillwater." She groaned thinking 'Oh great twenty question now'  
  
"Kick ass me too. I live on Curve Crest Boulevard, you?"  
  
"East Orleans Street." She sighed  
  
"That's a few blocks away from me, we should hang out of sometime."  
  
"Yeah right Fulton, we can be best friends." Meredith snapped sarcastically  
  
"Sure, why not. It doesn't look like you're being swarmed by people trying to be nice to you here. But I'm not gonna sit her and take this snotty attitude. I'm going in enjoy the cold, if you ever choose that you want somebody to talk to let me know, I'll be around." He got up and walked ten feet when he was stopped in his tracks  
  
"Fulton wait! It's uh really chilly out here, do you wanna go in there and talk for a bit?" Meredith stood up from her spot and gesture to the library with her hand  
  
"Cool, let's go." He suppressed a smirk as he followed the girl.   
They spent the remainder of lunch break talking, well Fulton did most of the talking Meredith merely answered all the questions he posed to her. She still wasn't comfortable with him, friends weren't something she ever had in abundance in grammar of middle school. However having Fulton around seemed better then facing the harsh reality that was High School all alone.  
  
~* As you can see Fulton one the friendship vote, I'm not sure if I'm writing him well cuz I'm not really a Fulton person, I'm better with Banks and Charlie, but I'm trying. I haven't figured out if I want romance between Meredith and the Bash Brother or if they'll just be really close friends. Do you guys have any request, what you'd like to read? I aim to please.*~ 


	3. 3

~* Short chapter but I was hoping to get the chance to work on some of my other stories.*~  
  
Meredith was surprised to find Fulton standing out side of the main building looking for her the next morning. She'd been almost certain that after the conversation they'd had the day before she'd wouldn't hear from him again, ever.  
  
"Hi Fulton, what are you doing out here?" She shuffled her backpack around on her shoulders as she walked to him  
  
"Waiting for you." He answered simply  
  
"Really, why? Shouldn't you be off with your friends quacking or something?"  
  
"No, we only quack at games." Fulton gave her a lopsided grin and opened the door for her  
  
"You know Reed, I don't get you in the slightest." Meredith declared and she passed by him to enter the foyer  
  
"I'm a very complex person, music, food, sleep, hockey and the occasional horror movie."  
  
"I'm serious, I see no reason for you to be so nice to me."  
  
"Easy, outside of the Ducks I have no friends and you look like you have less then that."  
  
"Yeah, well thanks for making an effort, no one else has." Just as she said that a random student shoved her from behind sending her binder flying. To make matters worse when it hit the floor it opened on impact, papers went everywhere, not just her homework either, her drawings scattered too.  
  
"Stay out of my way scrub." They guy spat looking down from his high horse long enough to notice Meredith in a frenzy trying to gather her things, yet didn't offer to help.  
  
"Hey watch where you're going jerk." Fulton hissed at the offender, who as captain of the wrestling team and a senior, may have stood a pretty good chance against the then sophomore enforcer  
  
"Bring it on Bash Brother." The arrogant senior challenged  
  
"Fulton let him go, just help me pick up my stuff please." Meredith looked up at the two large and irate boys that were standing toe to tow, nostrils flaring like that of an angry bull. It would've been comical if the circumstances were different, if she wasn't the reason for it basically.  
  
The hockey player knelt down to assist the girl in the retrieving of the strewn sketches and class work. Thus allowing the other testosterone charged male to leave, of course he made sure to step on Meredith's hand in the process. He never could've forgiven himself if he missed out on that opportunity. Meredith winced but contained her yelp 'Show no pain' she told herself  
  
"Is that all of them?" Fulton handed her the stack he'd collected, some now wrinkled or torn, one with a large footprint in the center. Meredith thumbed through and nodded glad to see all her artwork returned, especially so for the Eden Hell picture. If that hadn't gotten back safely, if a member of the staff saw that she'd be dead meat. The flames alone would have warranted not only expulsion but a life time of therapy as well.  
  
"Why aren't they so mean to you guy? None of you are loaded are you?" She asked quietly, following him toward the cafeteria for a quick breakfast  
  
"Banks is, Ken and Julie are pretty well off to, just not as much as Banks. Honestly I think the reason is this is a hockey school and we're the hockey team. Besides it's not like everybody welcomed us with open arms." He noted as they passed a wall with last years newspaper clippings tacked to it. The season hadn't started yet so they hadn't taken the old ones down and there was one shot of Riley and Cole's faces after the Ducks won the JV/ Varsity showdown. It was priceless. "Come on I'll introduce you to the team." he led her over to the usual table where his friends were deep in there usual gossip .a  
  
"Guys this is Meredith, Meredith that's Ken, Russ, Goldberg, Averman, Dwayne, my fellow Bash Brother Portman, you know Charlie, Julie, her best friend Scooter**, Banks, Guy, Connie and Luis. Where's the Quackaddicts?" The Quackaddicts were a group of four girls that showed up at Eden Hall one day the year before and never left. Two of them were complete experts on all things Ducky and the other two were obsessed with Charlie and Luis. Some how they managed to weasel their way into the group but they fit in alright and were normally around, when they weren't hanging out at Nicole (the only one that actually live in Minnesota) 's house and arguing over who had the hottest guy.  
  
"I think they're trying to get Kit to not roll her eyes for a day." Scooter informed him taking a bite of his own bagel.  
  
"We were and now we're here." Confirmed Cat, the hyper but fun loving British girl  
  
"Okay, Quackaddicts this is Meredith Rice, that's Maryann Lima, she's Portman's girlfriend but give her a week, she's been bouncing between him and Banks since last year." That caused a tall girl with short black hair to give him a narrowed eyed glare as he continued " The curly haired one is Kitten, she's dating Scooter, then Cat, the one with the English accent she's Charlie's."  
  
"I don't belong to Charlie." The girl stated ruefully  
  
"Yeah sure Cat and next to her is Nicole, 'I hate being called Nicci so I'm changing my name to Lise' Roberts. She's not really going out with Luis they're just boinking."  
  
The last comment caused Averman to laugh so hard milk shot out of his nose and pegged Julie right in the forehead.  
  
"Umm nice to meet all of you." Meredith wasn't shy by any means, she just wasn't used to people and with the way she'd been treated since she started there who could blame her for being stand offish  
  
"So how do you like Eden Hall so far?" Connie queried cheerfully, spreading jam evenly over her toast  
  
"Do you want the truth of should I lie?"  
  
"That bad huh?" Portman asked slipping around his girlfriend who was still giving the other BB a death stare  
  
"I'm not exactly well liked."  
  
"Neither are we, you fell in with the right crowd." Averman joked pushing his glasses up on his nose.  
  
"Yeah, well it was nice meeting you all, but I'm really hungry, I'm gonna get to class." She forced a smile and retreated from the dining hall only to be tripped into a locker in the hallway. Eden Hall was rough.  
  
~* The Quackaddicts will not be appearing in this often. I just wanted to work my friends and I into this story some how. Don't worry, I'll be getting back to the seriousness and angst I always have as a staple in my stories, for the next chapter.*~   
  
** for this story Julie and Scooter dated for two weeks the year before then decided it was better they were friends 


	4. 4

Meredith avoided lunch again that day by getting her food and going back to the spot on the lawn from the day prior. It wasn't that she was antisocial she just wasn't into people, being alone was what she was use to and she saw no reason to shy away from what works.  
  
"How come you're not eating with us?" Meredith shook her head with a smile at the voice behind her  
  
"I didn't want to impose on your friends, besides I'm not a people person, if you haven't noticed." She replied shivering a little. One would think that after the day before she'd be bright enough to wear a jacket  
  
"Nah come on, we're very excepting people, we can even make ya an honorary Duck. Lemme see you flap your wings."  
  
"It's okay Fulton really, go inside, eat with your team." By now her teeth were chattering   
  
"Here, I think you need this more then I do." A light blue jacket with a red stripe on the sleeves and white stars on it, came down over her shoulders as Fulton lowered himself to the ground next to her  
  
"Thanks. You seriously should go back in though, your friends are going to miss you."  
  
"Are you gonna come with?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then I'm staying out here. So what are ya gonna do when winter comes and it starts to snow out here?"  
  
"Make an igloo." Meredith giggled under her breath  
  
"Did you just make a joke?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Yes you did. Hurry alert the media Meredith Rice as a sense of humor."  
  
"Why are you out here?" She rolled her eyes at him  
  
"Well I have no plans for letting you sit out here by yourself, so there's only one solution. I gonna sit with you."  
  
"And the Ducks?"  
  
"They'll live, I see them everyday at breakfast and practice anyway. And contrary to what people say we do associate without of our species."  
  
Meredith knit her eye brows at him skeptically  
"Uh huh."  
  
"That was a joke."  
"I figures, it just wasn't funny though."  
  
"You know Merry, you're one cool chick."  
  
"Merry?"  
  
"Yeah Merry, cuz you're such a perky person."  
  
"Right… So what do I get to call you?"  
  
"Mr. Bash, The Bash Man. I dunno, Fult?" He suggested  
  
"How about Reed?"  
  
"That works, I don't think anyone around here even remembers I have a last name. My jersey even says Fulton on the back."   
  
"I know, I've seen pictures. Are you planning on changing you name to Fulton Fulton?" Merry tease pulling a scrunchi around her mane of messy brown hair  
  
"At least I got I got a first name, Portman, Averman, Goldberg and Banks only have last names. Banks has it the worst though cuz they don't even call him Banks anymore it's Banksie now. The other day my mom asked me how Adam's wrist was doing and I didn't know who she was talking about."  
  
"That sucks."  
  
"Yeah. Hey what English class are you in?"  
  
"Ms. Willow, why?" The girl took a bite of the apple she had with her lunch  
  
"I'm transferring into there today. For some reason they put me in A level with Mr. Underwood, so I went down to the guidance office after breakfast and had my schedule changed. Now we can do our homework together."  
  
"Fun, fun."  
  
"So where do you live? I'm coming over." He bumped her shoulder lightly  
  
"You're serious?"  
  
"Yeah. I'll be there after hockey practice. Hey you wanna come to practice, then we can go home together."  
  
"Can't, I gotta work a few hours tonight. Come by Mickey's after hockey."  
  
"Cool. Um you gonna eat those?" Fulton nodded to the small bag of pretzels sitting by Merry's side.  
  
"No go ahead."  
  
  
Fulton sat on the bench staring at he clock on the scoreboard, Orion was in complete drill sergeant mode and there didn't seem to be an end to his madness. Practice started at 5:00 and here it was 7:30 and he was still barking orders. No one had a clue what had crawled up his ass and died but they all knew better then to ask. The young enforcer hoped he could get out in time to meet up with Meredith but it didn't look like that was going to happen.  
  
Merry wiped down her last table and walked over to count her tips.  
"Not bad $26.00 tonight." She said to herself and looked at her watch. Her shift ended twenty minutes ago and the last bus to her street came in fifteen minutes. If Fulton didn't get there soon, she'd miss it and they'd have to walk. Walking home in the dark scared the crap out of her, but with someone like Fulton with her she'd be less frightened.  
  
After a half hour she came to the conclusion he wasn't coming, making her a not happy camper. She wasn't sure if she was more mad at Fulton for ditching her or herself for waiting and believing he'd show.  
  
"First person in the world that seems to be worth being friends with and what does he do? He ditches you on the first time you're suppose to hang out. You must be stupid to have fell for that." She muttered to herself pulling her coat tighter around herself. It was freezing out and a the walk from Mickey's to her house was going to take a good half hour. She should've just left at her normal time and taken the bus.  
  
Fulton raced full tilt across the parking lot of the diner to the door and pulled with all his might. It was locked damn it. There was no sight of Meredith either. He had no idea how he was going to get around that, he'd convinced her to trust him at least to some small degree and she probably thought he stood her up. That was not the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 


	5. 5

"Why didn't you call me if you missed the bus last night? I would've come and picked you up." Jared lectured running finger threw his hair to make perfect spikes.   
  
Sometimes Meredith how she managed to be related to him. Jared was anything but simple and while Meredith spent a good deal of her team alone in her room drawing, Jared was always the life of the party. She had unruly brown hair and basic brown eyes, her brothers hair was the color of caramel set off by grayish blue eyes.  
  
"Well Jared had I called you to pick me up, you would've kicked me out of the car and forced me to walk anyway. I was set to kill and you would've faced my wrath." Meredith pulled her hair up into it's usual ponytail waited impatiently for her brother to finish so she could get to school.  
  
"Hey Fult you comin' to breakfast?" Portman tapped his Bash Brother on the shoulder as Fulton sat on one of the benches outside of the main building  
  
"Nah I gotta wait for Merry, I ditched her last night." Number 44 responded  
  
"Why are you so worried about what that chick thinks dude?"  
  
"Cuz she's cool."  
  
"She doesn't seem cool, she seems frigid."  
  
"Frigid? Nice one dude, she's not though. You should go in if you hungry man, I'll see you in Science."  
  
"Suit yourself." With that Dean walked away  
  
Fifteen minutes later an old rusty Honda pulled up in front of the school and a average looking girl got out. She tossed her blue backpack over her shoulder, gave a wave to the driver and set off up the walkway to the front door.  
  
"So I thought you didn't have a boyfriend." Fulton got up from the bench and walked over to the pavement  
  
"I didn't he was my brother and for future reference I'm not speaking to you." She veered of the pathway and cut across the grass to get around him  
  
"Meredith hold on I wanna explain." He ran up behind her to which she quickened her pace and slammed the door in his face. By the time he'd recovered from the shock she'd already vanished into her first period class, unfortunately he didn't know what she had first period.  
  
At lunch as normal Merry wasn't anywhere to be seen in the cafeteria but to Fulton's surprise she wasn't out on the lawn either.  
  
'When she gets made she goes all out.' He thought to himself as he scanned the campus for a sign of his angry friend. After half of the allotted lunch time he gave up and went in search of Charlie in stead.  
  
Meredith climbed the wooden steps out side of her apartment and checked the mail box before going in. All bills, like always. She thumped up the three flights to her dwelling and shoved the door open with an aggravated growl.   
"Hard day at the rat races?" Mrs. Rice came out of the kitchen still wearing her tag from Wal-Mart. She was the supervising manager, a job that most people scoffed at but it supported the family with little trouble, they didn't have much but they had enough. Just your run of the mill lower middle class family.  
  
"Hi mom." Meredith sighed flopping into her into her favorite chair and putting up on the table.  
  
Every first Friday of the school year, the Rice's rented movies and ordered pizza as sort of a family night so the kids could tell their mother how the first week of had been. Donna Rice insisted on it.  
  
"So what's the matter sweetie?"  
  
"Her boyfriend stood her up last night." Jared teased with a mouth full of pepperoni and sausage supreme  
  
"Oh really?" Donna laughed lowering herself on the couch beside her son  
  
"He's not my boyfriend. He's a real jerk anyway, I thought he was cool, but I was wrong. He's just like everyone else and no one else likes me so…" Merry let her voice trail off and ended with a shoulder shrug  
  
"That's funny cuz I swear there's a pretty attractive guy sitting in your bedroom as we speak." Mrs. Rice alleged  
  
"What?" Meredith got up from her seat and dashed to her room, where Fulton was sitting in her beanbag "What the hell are you doing here?"  
  
"I, um wanted to apologize." Fulton shifted  
  
"How did you find me?" She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes  
  
"Charlie, he called his mom at work and had her check the contact sheet."  
  
"So you're stalking me?"  
  
"No, I just figured you couldn't take off on me if I was in your house."  
  
"Who the freak let you in?"  
  
"You're mom, she said 'Are you the boy that's been so nice to my little girl?' When I told her I thought so, she let me in."  
  
"Well I didn't want you here, so leave."  
  
"Not till you listen to me. I didn't try to diss you last night really. Practice ran later then I thought it was going to, ask anybody. I think you're really cool Merry and I like being friends with you, but if you know, you don't like coming second to hockey, you know then we really can't be friends you know. But I'd like to be. I'm gonna get goin' you can think about it." As Fulton headed toward her door she broke into a smile.  
  
"Fulton wait, do you wanna have some pizza?"  
  
"Yeah, thanks."  
  
Meredith Rice had her first friend. 


	6. 6

"Hey Fulton?" Meredith looked up from her sketch pad. It was a week later and   
they were sitting in her bedroom relaxing. It was a three day weekend and both   
had been looking forward to it.  
  
"Yeah?" The Bash Brother kept his eyes fixed on the TV in front of him, Charmed   
was on and Rose McGowan distracted him easily  
  
"Who was that guy that got in trouble in English today?" Merry asked quietly  
  
"You mean the one that wasn't me?"  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"Bryon Riley, why?" That got his attention, well that and the fact the show was   
at commercial break  
  
"I dunno, just curious I guess."  
  
"Please don't tell me you like that dude."  
  
Meredith laughed and picked up another colored pencil from the case  
  
"Like him? I didn't even know his name, come on Reed give me a little credit."  
  
"Good cuz I think he's a totally prick, and if you got mixed up with him, he'd   
hurt ya, then I'd have to kill him. Murder in the first degree doesn't look good   
on college applications." The program he'd been enthralled in shortly before was   
now back on and he couldn't be less interested "So why do you care who he is   
anyway?"  
  
"I dunno, cuz he's sort of cute. Is there a rule against me finding him   
attractive?"  
  
"He's not your type." Fulton declared matter of factly popping a Hershey   
miniature in his mouth from the bowl on Merry's dresser  
  
"What pray tell is my type?" The girl raised her brows intrigued  
  
"Not Bryon Riley."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because his whole family is full of rich, conceded, assholes."  
  
"Wow very uncool. You know you're getting quite worked up. Why is that?"  
  
"Ever heard of Rick Riley?"  
  
"Yeah, he was the captain of the varsity team last year, he was all over the   
newspaper. Ooh, I get it, Bryon's Rick's brother, the one that didn't make JV   
because of you guys. I remember Charlie coming into the diner complaining about   
that last year."   
  
"Exactly."  
  
"It's so sweet of you to worry Fulton." Merry rolled off her bed landing in his   
lap on the beanbag chair. She wasn't the kind to grin and goof around but Fulton   
brought out the smiley person inside of her without even trying. He was the best   
friend she'd ever had.  
  
"You're one weird girl." He observed "What do you got for CD's?"  
  
"A little bit of everything." She got up and walked over to her stereo and   
pushed play. She had a five disc changer and the first CD that came on was Faith   
Hill, to which Fulton crinkled his nose. Giving the same reaction to O-Town,   
Eminem and Elton John. Luckily for her the last one was Green Day, that he could   
stand in small doses.   
  
"I'm getting you a Slipknot album for Christmas."  
  
"Please don't."  
  
"Kid's dinner!" Mrs. Rice called from the kitchen "Fulton are you staying for   
supper?"  
  
"Am I staying for supper?" The enforcer whispered to Meredith as they headed   
toward her bedroom door  
  
"Do you wanna?" Merry answered his question with one  
  
"What are ya having?"  
  
"Chicken and mash potatoes I think."  
  
"Yeah I'll stay."  
  
After dinner Merry walked Fulton to the end of the street and as he disappeared   
down the block she wondered if Bryon could really be the evil jerk her friend had just arned her of. It had been him in fact that had helped her out that day when she couldn't get her locker open, before first period. He seemed nice enough and was definately handsome, but he disappearred before she got to thank him. Then in English he was deep in making a scene and getting in trouble, so she didn't bother to talk to him at all then. Still he'd been the only person other then Fulton to be kind to her. So wanted to see where that would leaned too. All she knew was she was in for one hell of a three days. 


	7. 7

The next afternoon Meredith got out of bed at twelve thirty, she had never been one to get up before lunch when it was necessary. She put her Sheryl Crow CD in the small radio that sat on the back of the toilet and stepped into the hot stream of water in the shower. When she got out she toweled dried her uncontrollable hair and pushed it back with a head band. Her jeans were frayed at the bottom were she had cut off a fairy design that had circled the ankle and the long sleeve gray tee-shirt she was wearing actually belonged to Jared. No other girl at Eden Hall would've been caught dead in that outfit, but it was one of Meredith's favorites.  
  
She walked to the front hall closet and dug out her mother's old figure skates, that hadn't seen the light of day since Mr. Rice. Donna Rice had, had Olympic dream years ago, before marriage, children and eventually divorce put a stop to it. It was sad, Donna really had that gold metal in her grasp, then she had to give all up, to settle down. But she wouldn't give up her life for anything.  
  
The ability to skate however wasn't genetically passed. And if it was Merry certainly hadn't received it. Her ice skating talents ended with being able to get from blue line to blue line. Tough it did take her twenty minutes to do that. It wasn't really a skill she possessed.  
  
A half hour later she was tugging the door to the campus rink open. Fulton had invited her to play around with his friends that day. While she really wasn't sure she wanted to become all buddy-buddy with the Ducks, she knew she couldn't keep making Fulton split his time between her and them. There was over an hour until the JV would be showing up and she'd made sure she could get their early enough to get some practice under her belt.  
  
On the ice stood a tall boy with sandy hair and his back to her. He was wearing a pair of hockey skates so knew they shined like a penny and a Minnesota Wild jersey that read 'Riley 14' on the back.  
  
"Uh, excuse me?" Meredith called stepping gingerly onto the smooth frozen surface   
  
The boy turned around and fixed his deep chocolate brown gaze on her, nearly causing her to fall when her knee began to shake.  
  
"Yeah?" He raised his brows and gave her a tiny small smile  
  
"Could I, umm, use some of the ice?"  
  
"Sure. Bryon Riley by the way." The boy extended his hand  
  
"I know." Merry managed while shaking it  
  
"You are…?" Bryon laughed  
  
"Oh right Meredith, Meredith Rice." She mentally kicked herself for that blunder  
  
"Nice to meet you."  
  
"Same here."  
  
"Well knock yourself out, I'm done here. I'll see you around." As Bryon was headed toward the exit from the ice, he heard a yelp and a crash. He whipped around and found Meredith spread eagle in the middle of the ice.  
  
"Ouch. Okay that's not what I had in mind." She stated standing up and dusting the frost of her butt  
  
"Not much of a skater are you?" Bryon laughed gliding over toward her  
  
"No." Merry frowned looking at her feet  
  
"Come on I'll help you." Bryon's arms came around her waist and she almost fainted  
  
"Okay." Was all she could get out. She could barely manage that. She couldn't understand it, there was an incredibly good looking boy standing with his arms around her.  
  
When the Ducks arrived Merry and Bryon were still circling the ice, holding each other tightly.  
  
"Hey Fulton, looks like Meredith has different ideas of who to hang out with then you." Portman pointed to the couple   
  
A knot formed in the pit of Fulton's stomach at those words, there was something not right about that situation. Bryon Riley didn't socialize with people like Meredith Rice. So why suddenly did Riley become a daily part of Meredith's life? That just was unsettling. 


	8. 8

"I'm never gonna get this." Meredith declared as Fulton hoisted her off the ice one last time.  
  
"Sure ya will, I'm just not sure you'll be just enough to do it without breaking a hip after you master it." Fulton laughed.  
  
"Thanks Fult." Merry gave him a sarcastic sigh.  
  
"It's okay Meredith, you'll learn." Julie coached "Practice makes perfect."  
  
"That's right, I use to get up every day at 5:00 AM and skate on the pond behind my house, until I got skating down, now I get up at 5:30." Adam added.  
  
"That's because you're anal Banksie boy." Portman teased.  
  
Banks frowned and wrinkled his forehead.  
"I am not."  
  
"Oh that's mature Adam." Julie patted him on the back "Come on, I'll race you."  
  
"I'm not anal." He repeated as the female goalie led him away.  
  
"Okay Hun, race now."  
  
"Speaking of anal," Meredith sighed again "I've got to get goin' or I'll be late for work and my boss'll blow a gasket."  
  
"You want me to walk you or somethin'?" Fulton offered helping her off the ice.  
  
"Nah, it's alright. Stay here and hang out with the Ducks, I'll just hop a bus. See you later."  
  
Fulton skated back over to where his friends were standing in the middle of the rink. They all stopped talking and looked up at him when he came to a stop next to them.  
"What?"  
  
"Where's Meredith going?" Kenny replied to a question with a question.  
  
"She had to work."  
  
"She works a lot." Connie observed.  
  
"Yeah, so?"  
  
Fulton didn't feel the need to explain to the team why Meredith needed the money. If she didn't feel comfortable enough to talk to them about her family life, then he wasn't going to tell them. What business was it of theirs that her father left them and her mother worked at Wal-Mart?  
  
"Nothing, never mind."  
  
When the Ducks were done skating, they all broke off into their own activities one by one, until Fulton was left alone in the rink. He knew he should go home, his parents might be wondering where he'd been, or at least his mother might. He hadn't been home in four days, despite telling his friends that where he was headed whenever they parted ways. The only person that had know where he was spending his nights was Jan, that was only because Fulton had been sleeping in the back room of the skate shop. He hadn't even told the truth to Portman and Merry.  
  
From the time Fulton turned five, until the time he turned fifteen the week before school started that year, his parents had had four other children. And that was on top of him and his two older siblings Kevin and Natalie. Most of the time he just felt in the way at home. His mother was always busy with the younger kids, especially the two year old youngest Erika. Natalie and Kevin treated him like a leper but even that was better then the way his father treated him.  
  
The house was always so loud with the little ones and his dad screaming. His siblings because they're trying to get attention from their mother, that was already stretched to thin and his father because he had ten too many beers at the pub before he came home from work. Mr. Reed was always in a bad mood for some reason or another and unfortunately for Fulton he was 99% of the time, the recipient of his father's rage. Arnold Reed was still sore with his son for giving up football for hockey, since he himself had had NFL dreams as a teenager. When they'd been cut short by car accident in eleventh grade, he turned to a low level, no way out job at a factory the produces Vikings souvenirs and of course drinking. Kevin was expected to go onto college and become a doctor or lawyer, so his dad wasn't upset about the fact he wasn't interested in sports. But even his parents thought Fulton was all brawn no brain. He suppose to live out his father's dream.  
  
In short, he hated being at home. 


	9. 9

Fulton pushed the door to Jan's shop open melancholy. He was frozen to the bone and beyond tired from the long walk he'd gone on after leaving the rink and as the door opened a small bell jingled and Jan emerged from the back room.  
  
"Fulton, I was beginning to think you had gone home." The man said placing a freshly sharpened pair of skates on the shelf.  
  
"I went for a walk, I got side tracked." Fulton explained.  
  
Jan just nodded and locked the register.  
"Come sit, have some hot coco, my must be frozen."  
  
The two walked silently to the back of the building and entered the quaint kitchen. Fulton sat down at the small, while Jan went to the sink and filled the tea kettle before putting it on the stove.  
  
"I went to the grocery store this afternoon. If you're going to be staying here, I thought maybe you would like some junkie food. There is potato chips under the sink, ice cream in the freezer and some fruity things shaped like alien heads in the cupboard." The older man informed him, turning on the burner.  
  
The Bash Brother sighed and fiddled with the table cloth.  
"You didn't have to do that Jan."  
  
"Oh nonsense, you should feel at home here. In fact, I was thinking that if you would like, we could Gordon draw up the needed paper work and perhaps you could live here permanently."  
  
"My parents didn't come looking for me today either did they?" Fulton asked knowing where Jan was going with this.  
  
"No, they didn't." The whistle on the kettle began to blow and he got up and started filling two cups.   
  
"They probably haven't even noticed I'm gone yet."  
  
Jan was never one to stand for self-pity, even if he knew how much it hurt Fulton to know his family really didn't care. So he changed the subject by handing the boy his mug and telling him  
"Drink you're hot chocolate Fulton, here take a cookie." He gestured to a plate between them. "My niece sent them to me from the old country."  
  
"I guess I shouldn't complain right? I mean I've got the Ducks, Meredith, you and Coach Orion. You're sort of alone here in America." Fulton observed taking a bite on he moistest chocolate, walnut cookies he'd ever tasted.  
  
"That… is not true, I have the Ducks too. But yes sometimes I do get very lonely here since my brother died. That is why, I would really like to become your guardian, if you decide that it what you would like to."  
  
The boy smiled and took a long sip of his coco as the phone rang.  
"Thanks Jan, I'll think about it."   
  
Again Jan nodded and went to answer the phone.  
"Skate Shop? Why hello, yes he's here, hold on. Fulton, it's for you, it's a girl."  
  
A girl? What girl would be calling him, what girl even knew where he was? None that he could think of.  
"Yo?"  
  
"Hi Reed." The opposing voice familiar one, one that's chipper on the outside, but had something distrusting and bitter buried deep within it.  
  
"Hey Merry, how'd you find me?"  
  
"I called your house and my older sister said nobody has seen you in days and I figured if you were staying with one of the Ducks, they would've mentioned it at the rink today. So I did some thinking and that only left Jan's, so I got Casey's number from my work contact sheet and got this number from her. Normally I wouldn't have gone through that much to find you, but after I heard you were missing, I got really worried. Are you alright?"  
  
"You should become a PI or somethin'. Sure, I'm fine. You didn't tell anyone where to find me right?"  
  
"Nope, your secret's safe. My shifts over, so I was trying to see if you wanted to hang out tonight. My mom's closing and Jared is on a date, so I'm kinda bored. Oh and you'll never guess who just called here. Bryon Riley, supposedly he had his father get my number from the office. He wants to see a movie this weekend."  
  
"Uh, actually, you should come down here. I want you to meet Jan." He ignored the latest on the younger Riley brother, something just didn't seem settling about his new found interest in Merry. She was not his type, there had to be some reason he was so interested in her, but what could it be?  
  
"Sure, okay, um I'll call a cab. See you later."  
  
"Kay. Bye."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Fulton hung up and walked into the living room where Jan flipping through the newspaper. He lowered himself onto the couch and picked up the remote control, putting his feet up on the coffee table. Which caused Jan to look up from the paper with a look of warning, Fulton put his feet back on the floor.  
  
"So, a young lady is calling for you, in my day the girl never called on the boy. You must be very special to her." The shop owner lowered his glasses and looked up at his house guest.   
  
"She was worried about me, she's really cool. We're just friends though, sometimes I think she knows me better then Portman." Fulton replied.  
  
"Friendship is a precious thing, always protect it."  
  
"I will." 'Just have to figure out what Bryan's up to.' He thought getting up to change into a pair of sweats and a tee before Meredith got there. 


	10. 10

Meredith turned the combination on the front of her locker and the door swung open with unusual ease. For weeks she'd needed all her might to pry the door open, normally causing things the fly out and be scattered around the corridor, but that day it had been unbelievably simple. Then she found the note inside.  
  
'Noticed you having a hard time with this the other day, so I got my dad to light a fire under the janitor's butt. Hope your mornings are a little easier now. See you in English.  
Bryon'  
Merry smiled and took her math book and binder off the top self, stuffing the note from Bryon in the binder for safe keeping.  
  
"Hiding love letters?" An unexpected voice from behind her, made the Plane Jane jump.  
  
"God Reed, for a Six foot pile of muscle, you're pretty good at sneaking up on people."  
  
"It's a gift. So what are you hiding?" The boy leaned on the locker beside her.  
  
The girl did her best to look confused, but no Oscar would be won for that performance.  
"Who said I'm hiding anything?"  
  
"You just stuffed something in your folder." Fulton accused.  
  
"Did not." She fibbed.  
  
"You gonna tell me?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Guess I'll have to see for myself." The hockey player grabbed the folder from the girl and proceeded to sprint down the hall.  
  
By the time Meredith caught up with him outside of her first period class, he'd already read the letter.  
"Fulton Reed, give that back!"  
  
"He had your locker fixed?" Fulton raised his eyebrows holding the not above her head.  
  
"Yeah, so?" The girl jumped up and pulled the paper from her friend's grasp.  
  
"Does that seem fishy too you?"  
  
"Do you trust anyone?" The girl crossed her arms.  
  
"Some people yes, just not him."  
  
"Because he has money."  
  
"Because he's an asshole."  
  
"Are you sure that jealousy doesn't even play a small part?"  
  
"What is everyone's obsession with me being jealous, I mean come on it's Bryon Riley for god's sake."  
  
"Yeah, I realize this, that's one of the things that intrigues me about him."  
  
Fulton rolled his eyes.  
"Whatever, you better get going, or you'll be late for first period."  
  
"Yes sir." Meredith saluted him comically. "See ya at lunch."  
Fulton put his food on his tray and continued his walk through the cafeteria. He stopped at the Ducks table for a minute, saying some quick hellos and getting a final time check for the game that night. With a wave a he headed out to meet Merry for their customary lunch on the lawn.  
  
Outside on the grassy knoll sat Meredith, busily drawing on one of her many sketch pads. What was she drawing? Bryon Riley. The boy was sitting beside her, casually leaning over her shoulder to see the picture.  
  
"It's not done yet Bryon!" Meredith chided.  
  
"It's done enough." Bryon retorted lunging at her and pinning her to the ground. "Lemme see."  
  
"You want it, go get it." Merry tossed the paper to the left, it hit the dirt a few feet away, but Bryon didn't move.  
  
"I'd rather stay here." The boy smiled.  
  
Meredith started feeling hot pinned beneath the boys weight. Her heart was racing and she could tell his was too. When he leaned in and kissed her, it was the most romantic thing she'd ever felt. The most revolting thing Fulton ever saw.  
  
"Go with me to the hockey game tonight?" Bryon asked.  
  
"Sure." Merry smiled.  
  
"Great, come on, I'll walk you to class." The boy stood up and pulled Meredith to her feet.  
  
"Okay." As the two went off in the direction of the building Fulton tossed his lunch in a nearby barrel. Alright, so maybe he was jealous.  
~* Oh the plot thickens, Fulton admits he's jealous, Meredith falls for Bryon and Bryon starts the first step in his evil plan.*~ 


	11. 11

"So tell me more about this Bryon Riley guy." Jared asked sticking his head into his sister's bed room.  
  
"He just a guy from school." Meredith replied rolling on some lip gloss.  
  
"That's what worries me, Meredith. I don't like the idea of you dating some Eden Hall, except maybe Fulton."  
  
"Lucky for me I don't care what you like, then isn't it? Besides, we're just going to a watch a game, one of Fulton's games mind you, secondly Reed and I are just friends."  
  
"Now if you and Fulton are such good friends, why have you never gone to a game before?"  
  
"Because Bryon Riley has never invited me to one before?"  
  
"Is he that cute?" Jared raised his eyebrows  
  
The girl smiled and applied some eyeliner.  
  
"Definitely."  
  
"I'm going to drive you then, so chop-chop."  
  
"Ugh, Jared you're not driving me." Merry groaned pulling her puffy hair up into a bun. "He's picking me up in a taxi in like fifteen minutes."  
  
"Well then I want to meet him." Her brother declared.  
  
"You're not meeting him either. Look Jared I know it's hard for you to understand, but you're not my dad, you're just my brother."  
  
Jared frowned and ran his fingers through his light spikes. It was hard from Jared to admit to himself that Merry was in fact his sister not his daughter. Even being only a few years older then her, he'd always felt liked he'd had a bigger impact on her life then their birth father. Plus as the big brother he reserved the right to be overprotective. It was an older sibling perk.  
  
As Jared continued to sit on his sister's bed Meredith took a last look into the mirror on her dresser. She hoped she wasn't going to overboard on the school spirit but she'd decided to wear a red turtle neck she borrowed from her mother, with her least faded black jeans and black work boots. She looked sort of cute, well at least she didn't cringe when she looked at her reflection. She was still nothing compared to the rest of the Eden Hall female student body, but hanging out with Fulton and Bryon made her feel less insecure.  
  
The door bell sounded and Meredith rushed to the window, seeing the cad parked in front of her apartment butterflies suddenly started fluttering around in her stomach.  
  
"He's here! Um, okay, stay calm Meredith you can do this. Do I look alright Jared, you better say yes because I don't have time to change." She started talking a mile a minute.   
  
Her brother sighed and nodded.  
  
"You look fine Mer, relax. Just have a good time okay? And if he tries anything call me, I'll come get you and rearrange his face for you."  
  
"Noted. I'll still be out when mom gets home from work, so if she goes to bed before I get back tell her I love her and I'll talk to her tomorrow." With that the girl opened her door and raced down the stairs to meet Bryon on the sidewalk.  
  
Bryon bought her a soda at the concession stand in the lobby of the rink, asked her what kind she wanted, 'coke with no ice' and ordered it. What surprised her however was he only bought the one, when she knew he could easily offered to buy them each a beverage. When Meredith asked why he didn't get one for himself, he told her he was content just share. That practically floored her, no one had ever said something that nice to her.  
  
On the way up the bleachers Bryon reached back and grabbed her hand. That was it, the girl was on cloud nine. The two slipped into a pair of seats some of Bryon's friends had been saving and the gleeful comfort Merry had been feeling moments before vanished. She knew of most of the teens from school, but was friendly with none of them. A good portion of them were kids that had hassled her on her first few days, some still did. She didn't like them and it was evident they didn't like her, but for Bryon she would've spent the evening hanging with Hitler. Meredith was smitten.  
  
The girl sat silently in her seat for the few minutes before the start of the game while the rest of the group chattered. She wanted to curl up in a ball and slide to the floor, taking refuge under her seat. She had nothing to contribute to the conversation about the difference between a stock broker and an investment banker.  
  
Meredith remained wordless until the Ducks took the ice, when she shot to her feet and screamed like the rest of the spectators. The rink shook as the hundreds of kids jumped up pounding the floor. It took a second for Merry to notice that none of the people she was sitting with were standing around her. Looking to her left and right she saw that Bryon and all of his pals were still in their chairs. Turning beat red she slumped back into her seat.  
  
Back to the silence. She remained totally hushed for most of the first period, Bryon didn't even talk to her. That made her feel even more out of place, so she made the decision after a few minutes of inner dialogue, she wasn't just going to sit there quiet and ignored all night. The next cheer worthy thing to happen on the ice, she was going to shout until her throat hurt. It just so happened that as the clock wound down at the end of period one Fulton let go of one of his famous slap shots, that saved right past the goalie and into the back of the net.  
  
Like a rocket the girl shot up and pumped her fist in the air.  
  
"Way to go Fulton! You're awesome!"  
  
Fulton recognized her voice from the ice and looked around the crowd to find her. Spotting his friend in the stands and gave a slight wave and wink, then he saw Bryon and his face instantly soured. He'd hoped she'd change her mind and not go with him, but unfortunately not. That was sort of dismayed him, he didn't want to lose her friendship, but knew if things stayed on that course he would lose to her Bryon. He'd begged her to go to games before and she'd always said no, but Bryon could persuade her, that hurt.  
  
Bryon saw the expression on the hockey players face and just for the enjoyment of screwing with one of the Duck he reach up, caught Meredith around the waist and pulled her onto his lap. She fall back with a huge smirk and felt the pinkness start at the tip of her ears.  
  
"You actually like that Fulton Reed?" Dave Bass, one of Bryon's friends asked, sounding mildly surprised.  
  
"Yeah," The girl responded. "he's my best friend."  
  
"I thought I was your best friend." Bryon leaned closer so his lips were right above her ear.  
  
"You can be my best friend too if you want to."  
  
"Nah, I'll settle for your boyfriend instead."   
  
When Bryon kissed her cheek Meredith turned twenty different shades of red, going along the with chorus of 'Ooohs' and 'Ahhhs' from the people that surrounded them. Jared and Fulton were going to love to hear this… 


	12. 12

"Hey Reed, great game!" Meredith exclaimed as he exited the locker room.  
  
"Really? I'm surprised you were even paying attention, being that you were on a big date and all." Fulton juggled his gear bag and jacket.  
  
Merry frowned and pouted slightly, she'd never been in such a good mood. Why did Fulton have to ruin it for her? "Come on, don't be a jerk about it, Fulton. I like Bryon, and I want to get to know him. You're suppose to be my best friend, why can't you be happy for me?"  
  
The boy just shook his head as the rest of the team started to push past him into the hall. "If I'm your best friend, why don't you trust me when I tell you he's bad news? I'm telling you Meredith, there has to be a reason Riley Jr. is so into you and it's not a pure one. Guys like that don't go out with girls like you."  
  
"That was rather rude." Bryon broke in walking up behind Meredith and slipping his arms around her waist. "Sounds to me like you were telling someone that you say is a good friend of yours, that they're not good enough for me. Now, I could be wrong, but at the pal shouldn't you be saying that she's too good for me?"  
  
"Oh kiss off Riley, you scuzball."  
  
"That's enough Fulton, I'm not letting you ruin my night." Merry snarled then turned to Bryon. "Come on Hun, let's get out of here."  
  
Fulton stood by the door and watched as Meredith stormed off and sighed. All he wanted to do was protect her from the evil that was the Riley family-tree. She was a bright girl, why couldn't she understand what he was trying to tell her? He loved her and he wanted her to be happy, but he knew deep inside that Bryon wasn't going to make her happy. Yes, that's right, he loved her. A long night of thinking had helped him to realize that he loved her, he wasn't in love with her but she was more important to him then any other girl he knew, even his sisters or Connie and Julie.  
  
He made a silent vow right then and there, if Bryon Riley broke Meredith's heart, he would break everyone bone in Bryon's body. With a scowl Fulton adjusted his bag on his shoulder and went off in the direction of the team. He'd been neglecting them quite a bit lately and promised to go with them for pizza that night. Even if he'd be spending the time worrying about Merry.  
  
Meredith had a great time that night with Bryon. By the time she got home she'd been practically walking on air. With a breezy sigh and a brilliant smile she lowered herself into the chair at the desk in the living room. Signing into her email account she opened her compose function and began to write Fulton a message to the address he got at the computer lad at school.  
  
'Reed,  
  
I'm writing you this letter to tell you some things that I can't say when we're together, because they only make you angry. I like Bryon, I like him allot and he likes me. We're a couple now and yes before you ask, he has kissed me. I've never felt this way before, I love this feeling, I hope to feel this way forever. Honestly if he ever calls things off it would kill me. I think I'd literally end it all. If you keep pushing this and he leaves me, my blood will be on your hands Fulton. If you care about me as much as you say you do, you won't want that, so please don't cause trouble for us.  
  
Merry' 


End file.
